Federal government buys Chinese drones seen as potential national security threat

Federal law enforcement is buying surveillance drones from a Chinese company the Pentagon has viewed as a potential national security threat, Axios has learned.

Why is this important: Efforts to purge the military and law enforcement of potentially compromised Chinese technology have stalled amid bureaucratic bureaucracy, and experts fear the federal government is exposing itself unnecessarily to spying on ‘malicious foreign actors.

Driving the news: The US Secret Service is the latest to buy surveillance drones from Shenzhen-based DJI, which dominates the commercial drone market in the US and overseas.

• The Secret Service bought eight DJI drones on July 26, according to supply records obtained by industry publication IPVM and shared with Axios.
• It was three days after the Ministry of Defense issued a statement claiming that DJI products “constitute potential threats to national security”.
• The FBI bought 19 DJI drones a few days earlier, the records show it.

The context: DJI makes a line of extremely popular consumer products, including the Phantom and Mavic series of drones, as well as the Osmo Image Stabilization Grip.

• While the products are used for personal and commercial purposes, they also require the user to download proprietary DJI software and fly using map databases that can be monitored remotely.
• The safety concerns surrounding these products are long standing.

In 2017, the Ministry of Homeland Security – the mother agency of the secret services – declared with “moderate confidence” that DJI “provides the Chinese government with data on critical infrastructure and US law enforcement.”

• In 2019, the Interior Department, which also uses DJI products, based its entire fleet of non-emergency drones due to concerns over Chinese government intrusions.
• The Sales Department added DJI to an export blacklist last year after Bloomberg indicated that he had provided surveillance technology to Chinese security forces in Xinjiang, where millions of Uyghur Muslims have been forced to seek refuge in internment camps.

What they say : “DJI’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities are well documented,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Told Axios, who called for a further examination of contractors with ties to the Chinese government.

• “Considering everything we know about the Chinese Communist Party and its businesses, there is absolutely no excuse for a government agency to use DJI drones or any other drone manufactured in countries identified as threats to the world. national security, ”Rubio wrote in an emailed statement.
• The Secret Service declined to comment, citing operational security. The FBI also declined to comment.
• DJI did not respond to requests for comment on its federal contracts or on the Pentagon’s characterization of the company.

The big picture: Lawmakers have cracked down on federal purchases of Chinese-made telecommunications and surveillance equipment in recent years. The most striking case involved telecommunications and consumer electronics giant Huawei Technologies.

• Efforts to phase out Chinese manufacturing technology has been slow due to bureaucratic constraints and the cost and complexity of replacing systems.
• DJI implemented privacy and data protection measures as concerns grow about China’s potential access to U.S. government data.
• In June, a DOD report erased a pair of DJI drones for federal use, saying its analysis found “no malicious code or intent.” A Pentagon statement in July disavowed this conclusion, calling it “inaccurate” and its “unauthorized” dissemination.

Between the lines: Some experts who spoke to Axios noted the possibility of agencies purchasing DJI drones to study the devices or develop countermeasures.

• A ban on the Pentagon’s purchases of standard Chinese drones provides exceptions for purchases designed to perfect such countermeasures.
• The language in the FBI and Secret Service contracts casts doubt on this explanation, however.
• The The secret service wrote its DJI drones “will complement the agency’s existing fleet of small unmanned aircraft and improve [sic] support of the mission through the use of the most modern equipment nd [sic] Software.”
• The The FBI said DJI’s Phantom 4 Pro was “the only commercially available consumer [drone] combine all [its required] capabilities at an acceptable cost. “

The bottom line: “If the federal government buys DJI drones for counter-drones or other security research, fine,” Klon Kitchen, defense and cybersecurity expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told Axios.

• “But if not, in a world where you have many alternatives – including some American alternatives which are very good – why would federal agencies assume the risks inherent in systems made in China?” “